My Little Pony: Dark Star

by WestRail642fan

Chapter #13: The Last Alicorn

Chapter Thirteen.
The Last Alicorn.

Izzy rolled out her sleeping bag as Zipp and Sunny tried to light a fire.

"Urgh! Izzy! Your homemade water bottle leaked all over the matches!" Zipp shouted, gesturing to the dripping-wet box.

"Move aside." Opaline grumbled, her horn crackling to life. Sunny and Zipp jumped back as the alicorn sent a blast of lightning at the small pile of branches and dried grass, igniting it almost instantly.

"See? Easy as a piece of cake." Opaline smiled, blowing the smoke from her horn.

"YOU ALMOST KILLED US!" Zipp shouted, stomping her hoof on the ground.

"Pfft quit being such a filly." Opaline waved her hoof smugly.

"Me? A FILLY?! I'M 24 YEARS OLD, YOU OLD COW!" Zipp's nostrils flared in anger.

"Who are you calling old?!" Opaline said angrily, her horn fizzling as it lit up

"Hey hey let's not start shall we?" Sunny said, putting herself between the alicorn and the pegasus.

"This- princess has gotten me irritated and annoyed." Opaline turned away from the white pegasus, "I need to be alone." She added, trotting off into the forest.

"HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Zoom shouted.

"To get firewood." The alicorn replied bluntly, branching snapped as she pushed past them.

"Think someone should go after her?" Sprout asked from the Sprouticus, the stallion was getting ready to sleep.

"You think?!" Zoom replied, tossing her armour to the side before running after the alicorn, "Thunder, you stay here, in case I need backup.

"Understood!" Thunder saluted.

"Take care of Sparky!" Hitch passed the sleeping dragon over to Izzy before sprinting after Zoom.

---

Opaline let out a roar of frustration as she ripped a large boulder out of the ground. She threw the boulder clear of the treetops without much effort, watching as it flew away. A loud crash filled her ears as it impacted the ground in the distance. Her horn fizzled as she ripped a tree from the ground, snapping its thick trunk like a matchstick before throwing it to the side.

"Stupid pegasus!" She screamed, bucking a nearby tree, splintering its trunk, "She knows nothing of being old!" Her horn crackled the air around it

"Hey, hey, Opaline, calm down, we might attract something in these woods." Hitch said in a low tone as he and Zoom finally caught up to the rage-fueled mare.

"I DON'T CARE! LET IT COME, I SHALL VAPORISE IT IN SECONDS!" Opaline snarled, raising her voice at the pair.

Zoom pulled out a weapon from under her wing and aimed it at Opaline, "Don't make me use this." The pegasus trembled.

"Woah! Zoom. Chill!" Hitch looked over in shock at the weapon.

Opaline lifted Zoom off the ground and brought her forth, placing the tip of the weapon right against her head, "DO IT. PULL THE TRIGGER!" The alicorn roared, "DEATH IS A BETTER ALTERNATIVE TO LIVING 2000 YEARS LONGER THAN I WAS MEANT TO!" Opaline clamped her eyes shut as tears began to flow from them.

Hitch shouted at the top of his lungs "ALRIGHT! CAN WE ALL JUST TAKE A BREATH BEFORE WE MURDER EACH OTHER!?"

"URGH!" Opaline shouted in frustration, releasing Zoom from her magical grip. The blue pegasus landed on her hooves, slowly withdrawing the weapon.

"Right. Now, that's better." Hitch lowered his voice, "Now. Let's all take a deep breath, alright? No one is getting killed today." He added, "Let's all sit down and talk like adults." The stallion gently sat down on the broken tree trunk.

"Humf." Opaline groaned, quickly sitting down, scowling as she avoided eye contact with the others.

"Zoom..." Hitch spoke, patting the ground near him.

"Urgh, fine..." The older mare grumbled, sitting down as well.

"Now, let's start from the beginning. Opaline?" Hitch looked over at the large alicorn twice his size.

"Hmm?" She let out, still refusing to look at either of the other ponies.

"You said 'living 2000 years longer than you were meant to' what do you mean by that?" Hitch tilted his head.

Opaline froze in place, "I... Don't want to talk about it..." She sniffed, looking down at the gauntlets attached to her legs.

Hitch frowned slightly, looking at Opaline closely. He finally noted all the scars that covered her legs and sides, the largest concentration of such was around the gauntlets, "Come on." Hitch looked up at her, "We're all friends here..."

Opaline let out a long, deep sigh, "Fine..." She lamented, "But it's not exactly a happy story..."

"It's ok." The stallion smiled warmly, "Just take your time, I'm not going to judge you."

"Well, first off. I wasn't always an alicorn..." She paused, "I was born a unicorn within the Crystal Empire's grand capital, Los Cristales." Upon saying that name, a cool breeze blew through the alicorn's wings, "I was a rare birth since every Crystal Pony at that point was either earth ponies or pegasi. Neither of my parents was a unicorn either, both being pegasi." She looked down, and her breathing quickly became rapid.

"What's wrong?" Zoom asked, her face now showing concern for the volatile alicorn sitting across from her.

"It's just that..." Opaline nearly choked on her words, "Because I was such a rare pony, my parents had to keep me hidden. It wasn't until I was 15 that I was allowed my first friend. She was a pegasus, 9 years older than me, and it turned out she was our Empress's first-born child, by the name of Shooting Star." Her heart fluttered upon speaking that long-forgotten name, "We met in boot camp for Imperial Guard training, only after begging my parents to let me attend it of course." She looked up at the two before her.

"You, were a royal guard?" Zoom asked in surprise.

"Indeed I was..." Opaline nodded, before looking down and sighing once more, "But five years into my training, everything changed..."

"In what way?" Hitch asked, tilting his head.

"A villain from Equestria's very ancient past attacked, a goat by the name of Grogar stormed Canterlot. While the Crystal Empire didn't fight this battle, it changed everything. Whilst Twilight Sparkle and her friends successfully defeated Grogar, a mysterious alicorn by the name Dark Star emerged from the shadows."

"Was that the pony you were referring to when we arrested you?" Zoom asked, Opaline simply nodded.

"Dark Star wanted to unlock the secrets of alicorn immortality, since only those alicorns born naturally, like that of Celestia and Luna, are immortal, alicorns like herself, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Empress Cadenza had earned the alicorn form in some way or another and as such, would only live as long as your average pony."

"Do you know where this Dark Star came from?" Hitch asked.

"No..." Opaline shook her head, "It's possible that Grogar himself created her to be his ultimate weapon in case he was ever defeated..." She added, shifting over from a sitting position into a lying position.

"How come you know so much about her?" Zoom raised her eyebrow, suspicion in her mind, "Did you team up with her to take away Equestria's magic?!"

"You little-!" Opaline snarled, "You dare suggest I would ever team up with the very alicorn to force this form upon me in her sick experiment to cheat death itself?!" Opaline screamed.

"Forced?!" Zoom was taken aback by this outburst.

"Yes!" Opaline snapped, "Dark Star kidnapped me and tortured me for 5 years, trying to force the alicorn onto me." Opaline gestured to all the scars on her body, "Each one of these scars is from where she would slash me, draining me of my blood in an attempt to trigger the transformation." Her voice cracked, "And when that didn't work..." She looked down at the gauntlets, "She... She fused these things onto me and ran over 11,000 volts through me..."

"Opaline..." Zoom spoke softly, "I-I'm so sorry you went through that..."

"Her hard work paid off..." Opaline spread her wings, "I awoke to her experimenting on herself..." Opaline looked at her wings, "The mad mare sent 11,000 volts through herself the second it proved to be the key she needed."

"Why didn't the other Princesses stop her?" Hitch asked, hearing all the pain Opaline had gone through when she was his age was too much to bear for the stallion.

"They... tried..." Opaline sighed, "But, she defeated them all. She had found a way to activate an old bewitching bell and paired it with an ancient amulet. She was unstoppable. Celestia and Luna were defeated. Twilight had disappeared, and Empress Cadenza, along with the Crystal Empire, had also disappeared."

"Does that mean?" Zoom started to speak before being cut off by Opaline.

"Yes, young Zoom. I am, sadly, the last alicorn..." Opaline frowned, "Or, at least I thought I was until I saw your friend, Sunny." Opaline looked at Hitch, smiling slightly, "Anyway... Whilst Dark Star was able to turn both me and her into immortal alicorns, she wasn't able to use her newfound powers."

"Why?" Zoom and Hitch asked in unison, before looking at each other and chuckling.

"Because, right after she came too after performing it on herself, three ponies burst into the room, holding what you call the Unity Crystals. They used them on Dark Star, stripping her of her magic, as well as her physical form. But it cost Equestria its magic."

"You... You were there when Equestria fell?" Zoom spoke silently, lost deep in thought.

"So, what happened to Dark Star?" Hitch asked, tapping his hooves together.

"I don't know, and to be perfectly honest, I don't care what happened to her. She took everything from me..." Opaline replied, looking down, "But rest assured young Trailblazer, if she is alive out there, somewhere. I will do whatever it takes to defeat her, once and for all." Opaline looked straight ahead, a sense of focus in her voice.

"What did you do for the next 2000-odd years?" Zoom asked bluntly

"I just wandered around what was left of Equestria. When those three ponies left, they split the crystal into three pieces, but left one piece behind, a clearly circular cut gem."

"The earth crystal..." Hitch said softly.

"The very same." Opaline nodded, "I kept it with me for just over 2000 years until I encountered an earth pony archaeologist. I gave him the crystal, I figured it would be in far safer hooves with them than with me." Opaline looked down at her hooves.

"That explains how the earth crystal ended up in Sunny's lantern, her father must have brought it off of that archaeologist. He was always buying old trinkets and stuff like that from Equestria's history."

Opaline simply shrugged, "Hey, no skin off my back if that archaeologist sold it for a quick buck." Her mood shifted, "But, now that magic is back, I do worry that Dark Star might be out there, slowly regaining her strength..." She frowned, "She destroyed Equestria once, she can't do it again."

"TELL US MOREEEE!" Izzy's voice loudly echoed through the trees.

"Oh, darn." Hitch grumbled, "We've been gone a long time, they must be worried about us."

"Well, they think I'm getting firewood, so...." Opaline said, her horn lighting up. Her magical grasp wrapped around the broken tree Hitch was sitting on.

"Woah!" Hitch yelped in surprise, jumping off of the trunk as Opaline slowly lifted it off the ground. In the blink of an eye, what was once two sections of a trunk, was reduced to large chunks of wood perfect for a fire.

"Ok, but we need to make it look like we were gathering wood." Zoom suggested.

"Well, you two already look the part." Opaline stifled a giggle, gesturing to their manes. Hitch and Zoom looked up to see leaves and twigs tangled in their hair.

"I have an idea." Hitch smiled, " Just follow my lead." He gestured. Zoom and Opaline looked at each other and shrugged, the alicorn placed the firewood onto her back, spreading her wings to support the load. Hitch trotted forward, and cleared his throat, "FOR THE LAST TIME! STOP RIPPING UP ENTIRE TREES!" He bellowed into the sky.

Opaline and Zoom looked at the stallion before realising what he was doing, Opaline coughed a little, "Hey, you wanted firewood, I gave you firewood." She shouted into the air, trying not to giggle.

"He didn't mean the entire trunk idiot!" Zoom added, also trying not to giggle.

"What? A trunk of wood is better than a few branches ya know?" Opaline smiled, nearly choking from holding in her laughter.

"Yes, we know, but it almost fell on my head!" Hitch bit the inside of his cheek, now holding in his laughter.

"Hmpf, maybe next time you should stand clear before I chop a branch down with magic." Opaline faked an unamused voice

"YOU'RE NOT EVEN CHOMPING THEM! YOU'RE TEARING THEM OUT OF THE GROUND, ROOTS AND ALL!" Hitch shouted, Zoom now openly giggling.

"What do you expect? I'm an alicorn you little-" Opaline added as the three emerged from the forest. Sunny and the others all stared at them, trying their best not to giggle.

---

Soon enough, everyone had settled down for the night. Izzy and Hitch cuddled, with Sparky sleeping between them, curled up like a cat. Dazzle had set up a small tent for herself, a small electric lamp lighting up the tent. Zipp was already asleep, her leg twitching in the air as she snored. Zoom and Thunder had fallen asleep near each other. Finally, Sunny was slowly drifting off to sleep.

Opaline, meanwhile, found it difficult to sleep, nothing new for her, however. Over the centuries, she found herself never being able to sleep, always looking over her shoulder in terror that Dark Star may have found her, and even if she would finally be able to sleep, she would always dream of being back on that table under Dark Star's fortress. Quietly, the alicorn rose to her hooves and slowly trotted over to a nearby stream. She sat down near the water's edge, her eyes locked on the gauntlets attached to her very fur and skin.

Spotting a large rock nearby, Opaline picked it up and smashed it down on one of the gauntlets.

End of Chapter Thirteen.